There are a few things I'm not sure of. I messaged the original decorator but it looks like she hasn't been on the site in years. I've made sculpted cakes before, but this will be my first 4-legged creature and cake that needs support. I was hoping I could get some advice before I begin to tackle this project!

1. When building supports, do you normally saw the wood pieces yourself to get the size you need? Or do you find the sizes already pre-cut at a crafts store? Specifically, I'm looking at the board that supports the pony body (4th picture) and wondering how to get that specific shape & size.

2. I noticed that the ears and especially the nose protrudes from the head. Do you think these were carved from cake or RKT that were attached? If they are RKT, how do you attach RKT to cake?

You generally have to cut your own wood supports for shaped cakes because they're all going to be slightly different sizes and shapes. You might be able to get the hardware store people to cut thicker dowels or boards to length for you, or you can use corrugated plastic or foamcore for the support boards and cut them with utility knives if you don't have a saw.

I'd guess that the nose was made out of RKT and stuck into the head using a dowel and glued on with icing or melted white chocolate before the whole thing was covered with fondant. To get RKT to keep a solid shape, rub melted white chocolate all over it and smooth it down as it cools off so that it keeps its shape and dries in a solid hunk. You can insert a dowel into the snout and then put the chocolate on it so that the dowel is firmly attached too. Make sure that the snout is attached to the head really well before covering it with fondant if it isn't attached to the head with a support under the chin.